Former
Formers, also known as Lambent humans, were humans that had become infected by the parasitic Imulsion and turned Lambent due to prolonged exposure to it. Delta-One recorded the first sightings of these Lambent humans in the seemingly uninhabited town of Mercy while looking for fuel to reach Azura.Gears of War 3 The appearance of Formers was a recent phenomenon, only possible due to the rapid evolution of Imulsion. The clear evidence that they existed revealed that Imulsion and Lambency could affect more than just the Locust Horde. History Lambent Invasion Cities such as Mercy and Char began seeing the first signs of an epidemic with a fever. Soon humans began turning into Lambent creatures, attacking everyone around them. While the infection was an advanced form of Rust Lung, the Stranded believed it was something else since Imulsion was not known to be a parasitic life form at the time.(Gears of War 3) Act III -- Chapter 5: Brothers to the End Delta-One first met Formers in Mercy while looking for Imulsion to use as fuel to get to Azura, where Adam Jonathon Fenix was being held. The existence of Lambent humans was first implied when Delta-One met a crazy old man in the town of Mercy who had rigged the town's pipeline of Imulsion to explode. Extremely paranoid and unable to provide Delta-One with a clear answer as to why he had done this, he instead vaguely suggested that Mercy was suffering from some kind of epidemic before fleeing. Delta-One would later come across the crazy old man's corpse in the sewers, with few clues as to how he died. In the same sewers, they would first meet Formers; Marcus Fenix originally mistook the Former for a crying female Stranded, and Delta-One were forced to fire upon and kill it when it started to attack. It quickly became apparent that Formers were the former inhabitants of Mercy that had become Lambent due to living and working so closely with Imulsion for so many years. Delta-One would continuously be ambushed by Formers throughout both Mercy and Char, prompting Jace Stratton to wonder if everyone would turn into Formers due to exposure to Imulsion, but Marcus would reassure him that only those that had been working closely with Imulsion for consistently long periods of time were affected, such as those working in Imulsion refineries.(Gears of War 3) Act IV When Adam Fenix activated his weapon, all Formers died, along with all other kinds of Lambent, Imulsion, and the Locust Horde.(Gears of War 3) Act V -- Chapter 6: Reckoning Tactics Formers will usually attack in swarms. Though weak, they can quickly overwhelm the player and cause a huge amount of damage in a short amount of time due to their rapid attacks and sheer numbers. Any power weapon can deal with them easily, although Torque Bows are not recommended because Formers are very fast and thus hard to lock on to. They can also be killed, very easily, by the Retro Lancer when charging. Behind the scenes * If a player tries to chainsaw a Former, it will act as if it was a Drone, but will explode midway through the chainsaw animation. * Formers appear as enemies in Horde 2.0, although in much smaller numbers. * Dizzy Wallin remarked that Mercy had been "busier than a fiddler's elbow" just a few months before Delta-One arrived, suggesting Lambency affected humans fairly quickly. * The human population of Mercy marking their doors in red to save themselves from "the plague" references the tenth plague of Egypt, where all first-borns of those who did not mark their doorposts with lamb's blood were killed. * Formers can be audibly heard to scream and shout in short garbled sentences saying things such "Save me" "Help me" and various other phrases that may imply that they are painfully aware of themselves and people/events around them, but are unable to do anything as the lambent organism is in control. This is somewhat simmilar to the Headcrab Zombies from ''Half Life ''who's screams are speed up human sentances. References Category:Lambent Locust